Adrenaline
by SolemnSerpent
Summary: As a 'senior-bonding' camping trip goes wrong, Elijah Moore finds himself abandoned by his friends, alone and infected. When he turns into a Charger, he only has one clear thought in his mind: Revenge. He'll sort everything out later.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This fanfiction will be centered around the Charger from Left 4 Dead. I thought it could use more appreciation than it gets, so here we go.**

**Left 4 Dead + Charger Concept (c)Valve. I don't own anything other than the OCs.**

**~x~**

**Prologue-Revenge**

I stared up at the clear, dark starry sky, and desperately wished for the millionth time that I was wearing a jacket. All I wore was my standard overalls and my ratty grey t-shirt underneath, along with some brown hiking shoes. No one had bothered to tell me that the little 'camping trip' I was going on with a bunch of high school 'friends' would involve being stuck in a freezing cold forest. I had been told we'd be staying on the outskirts in town, and I had believed it. I wrapped my arms around my chest; trying to preserve what energy I had left. It was a planned trip for the seniors, the last major 'bonding' activity before the winter semester started and everyone would be bogged down in a mire of homework. This had been my father's idea; he was the principal of my high school. So of course, even as a junior, I was brought along. We had traveled to the woods and set up two camps, in a sort of 'friendly' competition. At all hours there would be an on-going game of capture the flag, with the winners promised a special surprise. It had been an incentive enough for the entire male population of the senior class to sign up. The girls had their own bonding activity, something involving a luxury resort. I shivered harder, rubbing my numbed arms.

_Right now, I could go for the luxury resort._ I was on a tree platform, stationed as a scout along with 'border' between the two camps, armed with a pair of night-vision binoculars and a walkie-talkie. If a major assault on our camp was planned, I was to radio back to the others. If it was a single person trying to sneak in, my job was to 'tag' them and send them back to their side. It was around midnight, and the seniors, who had intimidation and numbers on their side, had stuck me here for the entire night. _I never wanted to come here in the first place. _My father had insisted I go, perhaps on the vague assumption that I would make some friends. _Yeah, right._ I scoffed at the idea. _Like I'm ever gonna make friends with half-drunk idiots who can't even call me by name. _I sighed loudly, and then shivered again.

My watch beeped loudly, reminding me that it was around two in the morning. I groaned, stretching out my aching cold limbs. I was sick and tired of camping out in this tree, and all I wanted to do was head back to the base and curl up in my warm, soft sleeping bag until morning. My shift was over in ten minutes, and so far there had been nothing but silence from the other base. It looked like there wasn't going to be an attack tonight. I yawned loudly, not bothering to try and keep quiet. _It's two in the fucking morning. Judging by the amount of beer the opposing team had, it's a pretty safe guess they're all passed out drunk._ Then again, so was half of my camp. They had partied half into the night before the testosterone kicked in and suddenly everyone had become competitive. Now they were discussing 'war plans' and cooking up 'rations' on the open barbecue they had brought. I was surprised they hadn't started a fire yet. My stomach grumbled at the thought of food, and I groaned out loud. Being forced on duty hadn't given me the chance to get dinner, or breakfast judging by the time of day. I paced back and forth, trying to keep my mind off of food and sleep. _Just need to wait seven more minutes… just seven more minutes and then I can eat and sleep and get warm…_

Below me, down on the forest floor, I heard someone approaching through the bushes. From the stumbling, shadowy figure and the strange noises that arose, I assumed the person was piss drunk. I lifted the night vision binoculars to my eyes, and to my delight I realized it was Matthew Wells, the jock captain of the football team. He was stumbling towards the border, and I swiftly climbed down the tree using a ladder, barely concealing my delight. I could tag him easily, something that would be easy to boast to the other seniors back at the camp. Matt was stumbling over the border, making strange gargling noises as he did so. It sounded like he was gargling mouthwash. I crept closer to the shambling figure, noting as I did so that Matt smelled… funny. Sort of like the road kill I passed by everyday on the walk to school. It was dark, so I couldn't see Matt's figure as he clumsily crashed through the bushes, not even attempting to be stealthy. _Just how drunk is this guy?_ It didn't matter though. I reached out my hand and tagged him on the shoulder.

"I got ya, Matt!" I said, barely keeping the delight out of my voice. Matt turned around at the sound of my voice and my touch, and for the first time I saw his features clearly. Dark, wet blood was splattered down his white t-shirt, along with what appeared to be alcohol. His face was torn and bleeding, several bite marks on his neck and cheeks. Something had taken a bite out of his ear as well. He looked at me for a moment, his eyes misted over and a cloudy yellow color, and then he _screamed._ He lunged at me, and in an instant he had pinned me to the ground. I screamed loudly, unsure of what to do. _What happened at the other camp?_ But there wasn't enough time for thoughts. Matt was leaning over me, his jaws snapping as he tried to bite my face. His teeth managed to sink into my neck before I grabbed his hair and yanked his face backwards, tearing him off of my neck. We struggled, his long nails tearing into the bare flesh of my arms as I labored to keep him off of me. _What's wrong with him? Why is he attacking me? I've got to get out of here before he actually kills me!_ "Snap out of it, Matt!" I cried out as I locked eyes with the senior.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" An ominous, inhuman growl answered me. Matt didn't sound like a human anymore, but instead like some sort of monster from those cheap horror movies I used to watch when I was in freshman year.

Steadily, Matt's head got nearer and nearer as my strength started to fail me, and my arms seized up with cold. His breath was rank, stinking of rotten meat. He didn't blink; he didn't react to my words, but instead focused on trying to sink his teeth into my face. I was sweating; I had to get away from here! More rustling in the bushes got my attention, and I heard the same low groaning. _Is the entire other camp like Matt? I've must get out of here!_

"Fuck… OFF!" I shouted, and with a surge of adrenaline I shoved Matt off of my and sprang to my feet. The other members of the opposing camp were here as well, around three or four of them, all in the same state as Matt, who was slowly rising from the ground, completely unaffected by our tussle. _I can't handle all of them by myself. I have to get help!_ Only then did I remember the radio tucked in the front pocket of my overalls. But it was too late; the other seniors dashed towards me, their unnatural speed throwing me off for a second. I turned around and started to dash towards the camp, a hand clamped to my neck to staunch the blood.

Fear and adrenaline lent wings to my feet, and soon I had a good ten meters of distance between the monstrous seniors and me. I could smell the campfire just ahead; the smoky smell blown towards me by a faint breeze…. Along with the scent of blood. I could smell it; the whole camp stank like a slaughterhouse. I nearly crashed as I tried to stop, right at the edge of the camp.

It was a _massacre._ I could see bodies everywhere, groaning, dying bodies as the seniors slowly died of their wounds. The other camp must've been through here already, judging by the amount of bodies here. There was blood everywhere: on the ground, splattered on the tents, pooling around the campfire, decorating the trees. It was like those cheesy over-the-top horror movies, with the only horrible fact was that this was _real._

"Please… Eli…help me!" One of the seniors screamed, dragging him towards me with torn up arms. Half of his face was missing, the skin torn off, one eyeball simply reduced to jelly. I froze at the sight of the desperate senior. I recognized him; he was the only one who had been friendly at the start of the trip. Paralyzed as I was, I didn't react until his fingers clamped around my ankle in a death hold.

"Please don't leave!" he choked out, blood coming from his mouth as he tried to speak. I heard the other monsters behind me, and I didn't want to end up like this. Like the senior. I wrenched my foot out of the boy's foot with a growl, and sprinted towards the place where all the cars were parked. I heard the senior's scream as the monsters who had followed me descended upon him. I didn't want to think about it. I stumbled past the similarly desiccated bodies, desperate, trying with all my might to get to the row of cars. I heard the roar of an engine up ahead, and an inhuman shriek of one of the monsters. I looked to see that nearly every car was gone, with the exception of one of the Jeeps. There were students packed into it, all of them clearly desperate to leave. I heard the screams of the monsters behind me, and I did not stop to think. Adrenaline took hold of me, and I ran to the back of the car and jumped on with a shout. Everyone turned to face me, with the exception of the driver. I clung onto the back desperately, looking back at them with desperate eyes.

"Floor it!" I shouted, hearing the screams draw closer. The driver didn't need to be told twice. The senior jammed his foot down on the gas, and the car lurched forward quickly, gaining speed. Panting, I closed my eyes, praying to whoever lurking in the heavens above to have mercy on me and let the nightmare end. The woods rushed by us as the driver continued to accelerate, clearly as desperate as the rest of the group crammed in the Jeep. None of us wanted to think about what happened back at the campsite, about how there had been people back there who were still alive. I shivered at the thought, gripping the back of the Jeep tightly as I squeezed my eyes shut. _Don't think about it, Elijah. There was nothing you could do._

"So, what the fuck happened?" a voice demanded. I looked up to see the student council president, Duncan Shafter, turn around and address all of us. We remained stoically silent, just looking back at him. "Well?" he demanded again, and finally one of the seniors shifted uncomfortably and started to speak quickly.

"So, me and Scott were on scouting duty when we spot this drunk group of people stumbling towards the camp. We thought it would be easy to tag them all in the dark. As soon as Scott tagged one of them though, the guy twisted around and bit Scott on the shoulder. That guy was fucking crazy, man! It didn't take long before we were being chased by all of them, and that they were from the opposing camp. We managed to get up a tree and hide for a while, trying to radio back to camp. Nobody believed us! The senior with the radio, William, I think, just laughed it off drunkenly. It was like a horror movie, man, when Scott started to get feverish. After a few minutes, he started to act like one of those monster students, ya know? So I got the hell out of there, as quick as I could." He muttered, his voice barely rising above a whisper, yet ringing clearly in the night.

For a minute everyone stayed silent, including me. _This is just too fucked up to believe. Scott got bit, and now he's a monster too._ I started to feel flushed as I remembered the clear, bloody bite mark on my neck. I had forgotten about it when I was running. I had been bit as well. Hastily I covered up the mark with one hand, focusing on staying calm. I felt _warm_, almost too warm, even though the night was chilly. My face felt flushed, and my breath was erratic. _No fucking way. There is no fucking way I'm turning into one of them monsters. It can't be true._ I heard the sound as the Jeep's wheels slid onto the smooth, hard concrete of the interstate highway. A small ragged cheer went up at this, but was quickly hushed. If that was possible, the Jeep kept accelerating, speeding up until we were going seventy miles an hour down the deserted highway. I barely paid attention. My skin felt clammy and sweaty at the same time, and my vision was blurring. Everything _hurt_, like I had been in some kind of crash. I began to tremble slightly, rocking the Jeep just a tad. The one senior who had explained what had happened looked back at me, and then his eyes went wide with fear. "Jesus, Elijah, your _eyes! _They're_ yellow!_" he exclaimed, and then suddenly everyone was looking at me, their faces blurring in and out of reality as a fever wracked my body.

"One... of them bastards… got my neck," I panted, my hand slipping down to reveal the bloody teeth marks in my neck. Everyone gasped out loud at the sight of all the blood. "That isn't good man, Scott got bit and he turned into one of them monsters! He looked just like you do, man!" The senior whispered, and then Duncan Shafter stood up, despite the fact that the car was going seventy on the highway. "That's it then. He's turning into one of them." He said, his voice oddly flat. I gave a small, weak noise of protest against this, and Duncan looked at me, with my neck wound and feverish body. "I'm sorry, Eli." I heard him mutter before strong hands took my wrists in a grip of iron. For a moment I hung there, watching Duncan apprehensively. Then he threw me from the speeding Jeep.

I only managed to choke out one last cry before I crashed against the pavement. Everything went black for a moment, but I could hear my own screams as the pavement tore as my skin, ripping it from my flesh, and the sound of every bone in my body shattering. I tumbled and rolled, my body rag dolling as physics took over. I heard the ear-splitting crash as something exploded on the back of my head, but I couldn't feel it through the haze of pain. Finally, my body rolled to a stop on the edge of the highway, broken and bleeding. Nothing would move; everything was paralyzed. I opened my eyes to see all of my limbs bent at awkward angles, shards of bleached bone sticking out from all of the joint endings. My overalls were shredded, and underneath my clothes I saw the muscles and ligaments that were never supposed to see the light of day. My jaw was shattered, my mouth flopping open as broken teeth spilled out, blood-soaked, grime-splattered. And worse yet, one of my eyes wasn't working, giving me a half-vision of everything as I smelled the blood steaming off of me and tasted the mucus trailing from my eyeball into my open mouth.

I wished I could scream or cry in pain, but there was nary a sound that could be made to express this torture. My shattered eardrums faintly picked up the noise of a car coming closer, and then my vision was filled with the sight of all the students looking down at me, disgusted. I heard the faint murmur of voices as all eyes looked down at me, taking in my shattered body. There was a chorus of, "You okay?", but I paid them no heed. I was focused on the senior who remained just on the edge of my vision, not moving from the Jeep. At the sight of Duncan, I struggled to my feet, watching as the ligaments snapped and blood spurted everywhere. "I… will… kill you!" I snarled at him, my good eye fixed upon him, blood dripping from my mouth as the words dislodged my voicebox from my torn throat. And then, strength lost, I collapsed back onto the ground, watching as the darkness hazed in front of me. _No matter what, asshole, you will pay. You WILL pay!_


	2. Metamorphosis

**Author's Note: Yeah, I wanted to write the next part of this as fast as possible. As always, thanks to the wonderful Lanny-Sama, who has reviewed every single chapter of all my fanfictions. I really, really appreciate reviews, and if you favorite this or favorite me, please give a small review. It helps me write faster, and that makes it so you can read more as well. It's a win-win situation here. Enjoy reading!**

**~x~**

**Chapter 1- Metamorphosis**

I felt the cool mud on my tattered body, numbing the pain away from my open muscles and bones and stealing away my blood. It would be easy, too easy, to simply succumb to the mind numbing chill and fade into the darkness. But I was denied even this option. The fever, the infection, whatever had been in the monster's saliva when it bit me; it was _changing_ me, from the inside out. I could feel it, like some sort of sick parasite. I could practically hear the thing running through my veins, though that might be a side effect of my own sick mind. I could hear my own heart slowing down, succumbing to the loss of blood. And here I was, half buried in cold, slick mud, waiting to die.

**-Flashback-**

_At least the bastards bothered to give me a half-burial. Guilt, I suppose._ "Why are we burying him? We don't have time for this!" Duncan nearly screamed, his voice high-pitched and hoarse. The other three students remained silent, but I heard a person above me speak.

"Shut your fucking trap, Duncan. You're the one who fucking pushed him off the back of a speeding Jeep! Elijah didn't deserve that, infected or not! Look at him! He looks like he's been used as a crash test dummy!" the senior snarled, and I recognized the voice. It was Antonio Calvin, the ever-cheerful, ever-friendly captain of the lacrosse team. I had been looking forward to this year's season, and he has been one of the most receptive when I had been forced to come along for the camping trip.

"So what was I supposed to do, Antonio? Let him turn into one of those fucking freaks and tear out our throats? I did what I had to, and it's too late to turn back now!" Duncan shouted back, his anger apparent. "Just shut up, Duncan. Just shut up, asshole. I don't want to hear it from you." Antonio said, but his voice was quieter. I stared up at him, my vision clouded with red. The lacrosse captain was scooping up wet mud from the roadside and packing it around my body, slowly but surely burying me.

"S'haaaaaaanks," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, heavily distorted from the crash and all of my injuries. Only Antonio heard it, and he looked at me in surprise, probably wondering how I was still alive. Then his face softened, and he gently closed my one good eye with his hand.

"No problem, kid. Rest in peace now," he said, his voice trembling with sorrow. And then under his breath, I heard him mutter a prayer to the Lord. "'t feargeat theeessssssssss," I breathed, knowing it to be true. In this whole fucking shithole of reality, Antonio had been the only person who had tried to put me at peace, tried to help me. I heard the engine of the car rev up, and Duncan's voice reverberate through the trees. "Antonio, we have to go! There's no time for burying the kid!" he said, and if echoing his sentiment, a long, drawn out howl echoed through the silent forest on one side.

"I'm sorry, Elijah Moore. May your spirit be at ease with the Lord, for all his mercy, and may the Lord forgive me for not burying you. Amen." Antonio whispered, and then I heard his footsteps pounding through the mud towards the car. I could do nothing as the car started to move away, until I could no longer hear the sound of tires on the cement.

**-End Flashback-**

I was called back to reality by the burning pain in my body. _Fuck. It feels like my body's trying to put itself back together!_ I could feel the fever throughout my body, as though I was on fire. The cool mud no longer helped as I could only lie still, forced to remain conscious and aware of my body. And now… now I gasped, it felt like my skin was _melting_, stretching, growing, and spreading over the open wounds. I was certain a torch was being pressed to the wounds, sealing them shut with tongues of fire. My whole body shook forcibly, unable to fight the fever. _It burns, oh God, why,why,why! Make it stop! Make it __**FUCKING STOP!**_

My pleas went unanswered, and the torture continues. Everything was on fire, burning, burning, turning to ash and scabs under the heat. My muscles twisted like crimson serpents, writhing underneath the melting skin. My bones… _oh god_, they were shattering, cracking and stretching underneath it all. I screamed silently at the unseen sky above me, unable to do more than open and close my mouth. I tasted salt in my mouth from the tears that rolled down, and then the fever spread towards my face. Everything was unspeakable agony, torment, like burning in the fires of Hell.

I was at the mercy of the fever, dying, dying… I let my head rest in the cool mud as I gladly embraced the arms of darkness that rushed to meet me.

Everything was cool in the darkness, cool and comfortable and soothing. In this darkness, I could feel my human self, whole and unbroken, like the fall from the Jeep had never happened. The fever was no longer there, no longer tormenting my body. I felt at ease here, in the darkness. I knew that I could fade into the darkness, and leave everything behind as I passed on. I recalled my broken body, my unspeakable pain, and the strange fever that consumed my half-dead body. _It would be easier, I suppose, to pass on. I could leave this fucked up reality behind…_ Yes, that would be best.

_Wait. Are you sure you want to go?_

_Who are you?_

I was surprised. There was another person in this darkness?

_I am someone of no concern. Now, why do you want to go? Isn't there anything in the world worth your life? Why pass on? Think about it._

And so I did. What was the point of living? I recounted my past memories, of being raised as a single child by my father, about his demands, my school, _everything._ I thought of the monsters that had caused the Jeep accident, and Duncan's face when he threw me from the Jeep. The memory of Duncan made me seethe with rage, and in the far back of my mind I heard a bellowing scream, something that was not human and never would be.

_I want to kill him. _

I could see Duncan's face, his smirk as he lifted me and threw me from the car. There had been no desperate panic, but rather madness behind his eyes. He had _enjoyed_ throwing me onto the freeway.

_I need to go back. I need to kill him. Only then will I be at peace._

As if on cue, the voice in the darkness whispered back.

_Very well._

I opened my eyes to see the sun slowly moving above the horizon, basking everything in a golden light. I blinked slowly, taking everything in. _Wait… eyes?_ I sat up quickly, feeling for my face surprised I could move. There was no shrieking pain in any of my joints, nor did I bleed. _Am I healed?_ As my left arm neared my face, I panicked as a wall of gray flesh loomed in my vision. I froze, recognizing the color. The monsters last night had been the same shade of gray, but this color was different. It was a mottled gray ranging from a white-gray to black, and from what I could tell; the limb was heavily, heavily muscled.

I slowly lowered my arm, ready to flee, but as I started to move my arm the gray flesh moved as well, perfectly mimicking what I was trying to do. I stared at it, and then realized in one giant shock that the giant limb _was _my left arm. I stared at my other arm, but it was normal-sized, covered in the same strange mottled gray as the giant arm. My left shoulder was swollen up with muscle, leaving me with basically an inch of neck left. I was taller, broader, and stronger. I looked down at my legs, gazing as I saw through the torn clothing that the mottled skin covered the wounds from the highway.

I looked like one of the monsters from the camp, but I was _healed._ Using the giant arm as a crutch, I leveled myself onto my feet, feeling the muscles in my giant arm flex powerfully. My overalls were in bad shape from both the accident and my metamorphosis, with one strap dangling where my overlarge left should had snapped it. I flexed all of my body, stretching, testing. The pain from the fever was long gone, and only a memory of it remained. _Was Matt carrying some sort of infection in his saliva? I am infected with that kind of disease? Did the fever do this to me?_

I had no answers to these questions, and none to ask. With my smaller hand, I reached up and felt my jaw. My teeth were sharper, harder, and most of them had regrown. My jaw was no longer shattered, but when I tried to speak, I felt pain in the back of my throat. Somehow, my voice box was messed up. The fever hadn't healed everything. I supposed I looked hideous, but after the burning, the pain, everything, I just didn't care anymore. I had left the darkness for one reason, and after then I would figure out what to do. I looked at the highway, and the neon green sign that read 'Huntsville: 2 miles'.

With a grunt I started down the road, staring daggers at the tire tracks from the Jeep.

_Just you wait, Duncan. You haven't killed me yet. I'm coming for you with a motherfucking **Apocalypse**._

_**~x~**_

_**Yeah. When Eli was speaking, remember he had a shattered jaw. Here's what he said: **_

_**"Thanks."**_

_**"I won't forget this."**_


End file.
